Watch out on the Canal cycleway in Greystanes between the old aquaduct and Gipps Road, a section of path has buckled upwards. Barriers are in place, you can take to the grass.

And in Western Sydney Regional park on the run down from Horsley Drive (headed south), watch out for that huge uneven joint between the slabs of concrete. It is now extremely bad. I got two immediate punctures going over that this afternoon. I'll get it reported - it's dangerous.

g-boaf wrote:Watch out on the Canal cycleway in Greystanes between the old aquaduct and Gipps Road, a section of path has buckled upwards. Barriers are in place, you can take to the grass.

And in Western Sydney Regional park on the run down from Horsley Drive (headed south), watch out for that huge uneven joint between the slabs of concrete. It is now extremely bad. I got two immediate punctures going over that this afternoon. I'll get it reported - it's dangerous.

for uneven joints bunnyhop them if you can, don't let the bike hit it with direct force, a flat or rim damage will occur if your unlucky.

A bit OT, but since I'll be in that neck of the woods from Sunday for a few days, what loop rides are good from Greystanes? I've ridden out to the Prospect Reservoir previously (along the bike/shared path) but that's about it.

Bit of on road riding and beware of the glass on Elizabeth Street, Wetherill Park.

I should be heading down to Prestons around 7:50am in the morning on Sunday for the usual group ride (a nice bunch of people), you can join me if you wish. From next week, I'll be free most days to ride in the morning.

Last edited by g-boaf on Wed Dec 18, 2013 8:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

michael_w wrote:A bit OT, but since I'll be in that neck of the woods from Sunday for a few days, what loop rides are good from Greystanes? I've ridden out to the Prospect Reservoir previously (along the bike/shared path) but that's about it.

Unfortunately, Prospect Dam Reservoir access is closed for the next year due to upgrade works at the Dam, so that means you'd have to modify the usual loop options.

You could try the bypass route to follow part of this route along the Orphan School Creek cycleway, but taking a left onto the Parramatta Liverpool rail-trail when you get to Carramar Stn then following that back to the Prospect Canal Cycleway at Guildford.

Another option would be to follow Prospect Creek back to Fairfield then pick up the Parramatta Liverpool rail trail again.

Hope you enjoy your visit.

A third maybe easier option would be to head east on the Prospect Canal cycleway then north on the Parramatta Liverpool Rail-Trail to Parramatta Rd, then the M4 cycleway east to Sydney Olympic Park. This might be more interesting for a visitor from out of town, as there are lots of off road cycleways around SOP.

WombatK

Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us -Jerry Garcia

Bit of on road riding and beware of the glass on Elizabeth Street, Wetherill Park.

I should be heading down to Prestons around 7:50am in the morning on Sunday for the usual group ride (a nice bunch of people), you can join me if you wish. From next week, I'll be free most days to ride in the morning.

Thanks g-boaf. I'll be getting in on the evening on Sunday, but I'll certainly PM you if plans allow for a morning ride

michael_w wrote:Thanks g-boaf. I'll be getting in on the evening on Sunday, but I'll certainly PM you if plans allow for a morning ride

g-boaf's route relies on access to Lizard Log carpark and playground being open - only between about 7:30 am and 5:30 pm (mightbe later now with Daylight Saving).

If it's closed, you'll have to take the shared pathway along Cowpasture Rd south to Restwell Rd, then head into the WesternSydney Parklands until you pick up the north-south cycleway therein. At very light traffic times, continuing up theHorsley Drive hill is feasible, but it gets a lot of dangerous truck drivers on it and the steepest part has you curvingto the left where your are hidden from following traffic. Its understating the risk to say its not for the feing-hearted atnormal or high traffic levels.

If you're looking for a serious hill challenge, Cotswold Rd within the Parklands is a doosy, and you can get a great view ofWestern Sydney from the top of the hill.

g-boaf's suggestion gets you to the M7 cycleway - you really ought to try it, just so you know how good a cyclewaycan be.

Enjoy your stay.

WombatK

Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us -Jerry Garcia

michael_w wrote:Thanks g-boaf. I'll be getting in on the evening on Sunday, but I'll certainly PM you if plans allow for a morning ride

g-boaf's route relies on access to Lizard Log carpark and playground being open - only between about 7:30 am and 5:30 pm (mightbe later now with Daylight Saving).

If it's closed, you'll have to take the shared pathway along Cowpasture Rd south to Restwell Rd, then head into the WesternSydney Parklands until you pick up the north-south cycleway therein. At very light traffic times, continuing up theHorsley Drive hill is feasible, but it gets a lot of dangerous truck drivers on it and the steepest part has you curvingto the left where your are hidden from following traffic. Its understating the risk to say its not for the feing-hearted atnormal or high traffic levels.

If you're looking for a serious hill challenge, Cotswold Rd within the Parklands is a doosy, and you can get a great view ofWestern Sydney from the top of the hill.

g-boaf's suggestion gets you to the M7 cycleway - you really ought to try it, just so you know how good a cyclewaycan be.

Enjoy your stay.

Thanks wombatK. As a long time local until 10 years ago I know the areas, but not the cycling infrastructure. Most of my cycling in Sydney and surrounds was as a kid/adolescent and bike paths were barely registering on the radar. I'm very interested to check out the M7 path and anything else along the way

wombatK wrote:g-boaf's route relies on access to Lizard Log carpark and playground being open - only between about 7:30 am and 5:30 pm (mightbe later now with Daylight Saving).

You can squeeze through the pedestrian bollards at the Lizard Log and all other car park entrance points at the Regional Park. There are walkers and dog walking people there before the official opening times.

Watch out heading west on the Canal just before you descend onto the viaduct, in the middle of the path just near one of the joins there is a piece of metal bar sticking up. Stick to the middle of the marked lanes and you'll be fine, but under no circumstance ride down the middle of the path. You'll blow a tyre for sure and crash.

The manhole cover outside Holroyd High seems to be growing by the day and is a good few inches above the path right in the middle. It would be easy to go arse over tit if the light was poor. I suppose the pathway is dropping a bit with the drier weather.

Conversely, the tunnel under Gipps Road at the back of the sportsground was an inch deep this afternoon even with just a bit of rain, even the tiniest bit overnight would probably submerge the path. Not that that is unusual there.

Hergest wrote:The manhole cover outside Holroyd High seems to be growing by the day and is a good few inches above the path right in the middle. It would be easy to go arse over tit if the light was poor. I suppose the pathway is dropping a bit with the drier weather.

Conversely, the tunnel under Gipps Road at the back of the sportsground was an inch deep this afternoon even with just a bit of rain, even the tiniest bit overnight would probably submerge the path. Not that that is unusual there.

Agreed in that cover - I go through there late at night, it's always a risk.

I'm half tempted to use Merrylands Rd instead and avoid the path altogether.

I used to frequent the canal bike path a lot on my way to and from work / random rides.

There is also a couple of manhole covers near Gipps Road on the pathway, The bridge right near by also has a heap of sticks and bottles.It's a good ride when there is no snakes, burnt out cars, magpies, broken manhole covers or people walking on the wrong side / middle of the path.

The bike pathway between where Boral is and Yennora along the creek is a good alternative if you're heading towards guilford etc, just adds a km or two to the trip

Over the years nearly all of the raised manholes have been sorted out even though often in a crude way by building up a ramp of bitumen around them, the one outside the school is really the only bad one now. No burnt out cars for a month or two nor magpies and apart from the Sherwood Road/Woodpark Road tunnel there's not any glass to speak of. The key to avoiding errant walkers/joggers is of course to go early or late. Today there were more walkers and joggers following the centre line of the M7 path than i've seen on the canal for ages.

ruckmaj wrote:I used to frequent the canal bike path a lot on my way to and from work / random rides.

There is also a couple of manhole covers near Gipps Road on the pathway, The bridge right near by also has a heap of sticks and bottles.It's a good ride when there is no snakes, burnt out cars, magpies, broken manhole covers or people walking on the wrong side / middle of the path.

The bike pathway between where Boral is and Yennora along the creek is a good alternative if you're heading towards guilford etc, just adds a km or two to the trip

g-boaf - I probably used to ride past you mid to late last year.

You probably did - I'm usually on a white/silver trek 4.5 or a Giant (which was black/green). I'm not on there that much anymore - except for just using it to get to where I need to go. I usually ride up to Cumberland Road and turn off there and ride the road up to the M7. Concrete cycleways are so rough.

Hergest wrote:Today there were more walkers and joggers following the centre line of the M7 path than i've seen on the canal for ages.

5.30 this morning while it was still dry. 2 utter clots on motorised bikes at Greystanes, no lights, dressed all in black flying along towards Woodpark/Smithfield with a clear deathwish. It was only the godawful racket they were making that let me know they were coming so i kept to the very hard left.

Useless Diona are dragging their feet as always reinstating the path that snakes up from Hyland Road by the new power supply place, they really are as much use as a chocolate teapot and would struggle to earn a living if they weren't working for the electric company who clearly don't give a monkeys about the path. This would be a 2 day job if done by proper concretors.

In comparison the humpback bridge that crosses the creek overflow just by Widemere Road that was starting to fall apart has been mended very promptly indeed so clearly it had bugger all to do with Diona, probably Fairfield Council so thanks to them.

I know those 2 clots you mention, they went speeding towards me last weekend. I probably could have caught them up if I tried and told them off, but what's the point?

The path near Hyland Road on the Canal is an utter mess. It was never properly reconstructed, but now it is dug up and the dug up section is about 15cm deep. I imagine today it has probably turned into a mud-pool.

Rejoice! The Hyland Rd climb Strava segment is back open for business. All the concrete has been laid down. Happened sometime yesterday or today.

I do want to point out though that the whole of the Prospect canal path lies within Holroyd Council. The boundary between Holroyd and Fairfield councils is Prospect Creek, from the railway all the way to Reconciliation Rd. Which also means the bridge over Prospect Creek straddles the boundary.

The tunnel under Sherwood Road at Guildford West/Merrylands West is in a dreadful condition today. It's often got some broken glass but it looks like a mob have had a bottle smashing party, big chunks of glass too as if the bottles have been perfume and aftershave. Lots of other rubbish there too. I've rang the council so hopefully they send someone out there with some brooms but for the moment you are far better off walking the bike through there.

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